Hermann Simon

was born in Berlin; he studied history in Berlin, and numismatics in Prague. He has directed the New Synagogue Berlin – Centrum Judaicum Foundation since July, 1988. His publications include Das Berliner Jüdische Museum in der Oranienburger Strasse.

This richly illustrated book depicts 750 years of Jewish history as well as Jewish life in Berlin today. The Prussian capital was, for many centuries, the center of Jewish life in Germany. Its Jewish citizens strongly influenced the city’s cultural and literary life and led the way in the sciences, from the 18th century salon of Rachel Varnhagen to the cabarets of the Weimar Republic. However, economic crisis, hyper-inflation, and the depression of 1929 provided rich soil for the growth of anti-Semitism and ultimately led to the Holocaust. But today, Jewish life and Jewish culture are flourishing once again, after tens of thousands of immigrants from Russia and Israel have arrived in the capital.

Hermann Simon:Jewish Berlin, The Map

was born in Berlin in 1951. He studied history and Judaic studies and was ordained as a rabbi. He served as head of the Berliner Festspiele and the Jüdische Kulturtage in Berlin. Today, he is Director of the Topographie of Terror Foundation.

​Julius H. Schoeps, born in Sweden, is a professor of modern history at the University of Potsdam, where he directs the Moses Mendelssohn Center. He has co-edited various publications, including: Neues Lexikon des Judentums.